Habitat Designation Key to Right Whale Recovery

February 2,2016— There is reason to be optimistic that the recent move by the federal government to expand the protected habitat of the North Atlantic right whale will protect the endangered species without harming its equally at-risk ocean neighbor, the commercial fishing industry.

The mammals and fishermen have historically been at cross purposes. The whales were given their name because they were the “right” whale to kill, thanks to their proximity to shore and the fact that they floated when dead, allowing them to be easily towed behind a whaler. The modern fishing industry no longer targets the whales, of course, but the mammals can get tangled in lost or discarded fishing line and gear, which often leads to their death.

Commercial whaling decimated the once-thriving right whale species in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Just a few decades ago, only 300 or so remained. Over the last three decades, however, conservation efforts have brought the number to around 500.

“We have made progress,” David Gouveia, the marine mammal and sea turtle conservation coordinator for the Greater Atlantic Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service, told the Associated Press. “We are on a positive trajectory but there is still plenty of work to be done.”

Last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it was expanding its list of right whale habitat, adding calving grounds off the coast of the Carolinas and feeding grounds off New England. The move designates more than 30,000 square nautical miles as critical.

The designation, set to go into effect at the end of the month, means projects that require federal permits — such as dredging or building oil rigs or wind farms — will now be measured at least in part on how they affect the whales’ habitat.

“It’s a very important move,” Charles “Stormy” Mayo, director of right whale habitat studies at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, told the Boston Globe. “It’s pretty tough to put a small box around a wild animal, especially a whale that travels many thousands of miles each year of its life. … What we have here is an adjustment that recognizes the wide use of the environment that supports these whales.”

The measure is not expected to affect fishing or lobstering operations. Both industries have scrapped with the federal government in the past over how best to help the whales rebound while keeping hundreds of small businesses afloat. Those negotiations have often been complicated by lawsuits from environmental groups looking to force a solution, generally at the expense of fishermen.

“It’s a very real fear among the fishing industry,” Patrice McCarron of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association told the Bangor Daily News. “The right whale issue has been a very litigious issue — period.”